Nghe An: Need to overcome shortcomings and improve the effectiveness of administrative reform work at departments and branches

On the morning of April 28, the Thematic Supervision Delegation of the Provincial People's Council had a working session with relevant departments, branches and units on "Administrative reform work in Nghe An province in the period of 2020-2022".

Comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council chaired.

Working scene. Photo: TL

There are still "bottlenecks"

The report of the Supervisory Delegation on the results of administrative reform implementation after working directly with a number of departments, branches and localities shows that: The direction and management of administrative reform has not been carried out resolutely, regularly and continuously in a number of departments, offices and units, leading to failure to achieve the set goals.

Some units have issued annual administrative reform plans, but have not followed the issued plans to organize implementation. Responsibility for administrative procedure reform of a number of cadres, civil servants and public employees is still limited, advisory on public service implementation is not high, and there is no initiative in innovation and creativity.

The public ethics of some officials and civil servants are not good, there is still abuse of position and power, causing negative harassment in handling work of businesses and people; some areas have not been well resolved, violations of the law that need to be handled still occur frequently.

Comrade Hoang Quoc Viet - Director of the Department of Natural Resources and Environment discussed difficulties in administrative reform work at the unit. Photo: TL

There are still many shortcomings in decentralization of management; some administrative procedures have not been updated promptly and fully publicized; people and businesses are still limited in submitting documents for online administrative procedures at levels 3 and 4.

Machinery, equipment, software, and internet connection serving the operations of the receiving and returning results department at the People's Committees of some districts and communes have not met the work requirements. The smart urban project has not received due attention, and the infrastructure is not synchronized.

Comrade Pham Hong Quang - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment proposed that administrative reform work needs to be implemented synchronously. Photo: TL

The implementation of the Government's Project 06 on "Developing applications of population data, electronic identification and authentication to serve national digital transformation in the 2022-2025 period, with a vision to 2030" still has many shortcomings.

At the meeting, leaders of departments, branches and units had many opinions explaining and clarifying some related contents. At the same time, there were some recommendations and proposals related to the provisions of the law and of the province.

Members of the Provincial People's Council Supervisory Delegation attended the meeting. Photo: TL

Efforts to improve the effectiveness of administrative reform

Administrative reform is identified as a key task, one of the province's breakthroughs according to the Resolution of the 19th Provincial Party Congress, term 2020 - 2025.

With the strong leadership of all levels and sectors, the province's administrative reform work has had many positive changes in recent times, reflected in the Provincial Competitiveness Index (PAR INDEX) in 2022, ranking 17th out of 63 provinces and cities, up 7 places compared to 2021; People's satisfaction index with the service of state administrative agencies ranked 14th out of 63 provinces and cities, up 21 places compared to 2021.

Comrade Nguyen Viet Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department of Home Affairs clarified the causes of shortcomings and limitations in administrative reform. Photo: TL

Assessing the results of administrative reform, comrade Pham Hong Quang - Member of the Provincial Party Committee, Director of the Department of Planning and Investment said: Sectors and levels have made great efforts in administrative reform. However, in the process of implementing this work, there are still difficulties due to objective reasons, especially the overlapping administrative procedures and processes between documents, legal norms, and related Laws.

"The provincial leaders pay special attention to administrative reform. To make this work more effective, it needs to be implemented synchronously at all levels and sectors, creating favorable conditions for investors, organizations and individuals," the Director of the Department of Home Affairs proposed.

Mr. Phan Duy Hung - representative of VCCI Nghe An spoke about the province's administrative reform work. Photo: TL

Clarifying the causes of the shortcomings and limitations in administrative reform, comrade Nguyen Viet Hung - Member of the Provincial Party Executive Committee, Director of the Department of Home Affairs said: There is still a situation where some departments, branches and localities do not really pay attention to administrative reform.

In recent times, the implementation of administrative unit mergers, apparatus reform, and staff streamlining has led to a reduction in the number of employees, additional tasks while policies for cadres and civil servants are still limited; there are still violations of public ethics; pressure on administrative reform and accuracy in work for cadres and civil servants; infrastructure serving administrative reform is still limited,...

The Provincial People's Council Supervisory Delegation inspected the settlement of administrative procedures at the One-Stop Section of Tan Lac town, Quy Chau district. Photo: TL

“The Department of Home Affairs advises the Provincial People's Committee to report on the analysis and evaluation of the results of the ranking of the administrative reform index, the provincial public administration index (PAPI); the satisfaction index of people and organizations with the services of state administrative agencies (SIPAS) to agencies, units and localities to find solutions to overcome the indicators that lose points. At the same time, the Department will develop and implement solutions to correct the existing limitations in administrative reform work at its units,” said the Director of the Department of Home Affairs.

Speaking at the meeting, comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council shared with departments and branches about the difficulties and obstacles in the process of implementing administrative reform work.

Comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi - Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council concluded the meeting. Photo: TL

According to comrade Nguyen Nhu Khoi, through monitoring, it shows that some Party committees still consider administrative reform as the work of the government. Coordination between departments and branches is still limited; the synchronization of the software system is the "weak link" in administrative reform and building e-government of the province.

Emphasizing that, for administrative reform to be effective, departments and branches need to coordinate more closely, clearly define their responsibilities in each issue and specific content, the Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Council suggested that the Department of Home Affairs should consider the criteria for evaluating the provincial administrative reform index to perfect the evaluation criteria to be more accurate, harmonious and fair.

At the same time, it is hoped that relevant departments, branches, localities and units will make efforts to overcome shortcomings and limitations to improve their position in the rankings of indicators related to administrative reform work of the province and the Central Government.

Leaders of departments and branches attended the meeting. Photo: TL

The Supervisory Delegation will receive comments from leaders of departments and branches to complete the report. From there, it will recommend and propose to the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial People's Committee to have solutions to implement administrative reform more effectively.